Author's Note: I just wanted to warn all you guys that, starting Monday (tomorrow), I will be starting band camp that will last for two weeks. I'll be there 9-3, 6-9 every day except for Fridays, so I may not be able to update as often. I'll try to post some chapters over the weekend, but I still have summer school work to do as well. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Chapter 18 – Dancing

The two entered the large building, and Tea could only stare in awe at her surroundings. She was suddenly happy to have such an expensive dress on; the entire room was set up in ballroom fashion. The center was wooden flooring and was used for the dancing area, while the outer edge was black, marble flooring. Tables and chairs were set up along the walls and on the outside of the dance floor, all of them black metal with glass table tops. The walls were a dark red color, and the man in charge of the party had posted several diagrams and displays of future projects along the walls for viewers to look at. The northern wall was an entire, wooden stage, complete with light red curtains and a podium. Last but not least, a black metal chandelier hung from the ceiling, illuminating the entire room.

"Wow…" she said in awe as she looked around at all the other guests, feeling quite out of place. Most of the women looked like fake supermodels with enhanced chests and blonde or brown hair. Their dresses showed more than what Tea would expect at a gathering, but she had never been to one before, so who was she to judge? But it was just as Seto explained it; all the men were hanging around each other, eyeing their wives and trying to show off each one's new equipment or technology.

"Try to ignore them," Seto stated, noticing her glance around the room. "If you don't talk to them, they won't talk back. Just pretend you're really shy or something. When you talk to one of these women, they don't leave you alone for the rest of the night." Tea nodded in understanding and grasped Seto's hand in hers. Looking up, she saw him smiling down at her before he asked, "Do you want to sit at one of the tables?"

"Sure." The two walked around the area to an empty table with four chairs set. Sitting down next to him, she looked once more around the room, wondering how expensive of a place it really was.

"What would you two like to drink?" a hostess asked, walking up to their table. She was wearing a black skirt and white top, and her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

"At least she doesn't look slutty," Tea thought. "What do you have?"

"Mr. Kenshie has bought nearly every type of wine or beer you can think of!" the woman exclaimed as she smiled down at the two. "We also have non-alcoholic beverages, such as soda, lemonade, water—"

"I'll have a Shirley temple," Tea answered.

"And you, sir?" the hostess asked, looking over at Seto.

"I'll have a glass of red wine," he answered, not even looking up at her. She nodded her head and quickly left to get their drinks, giving Tea the perfect moment to send a glare at him. "What?" he asked, noticing her narrowed eyes.

"Red wine? Aren't you a little young to be drinking, Mr. CEO?"

"I'm eighteen, and I'm responsible," Seto explained. "Besides, I've been forced to go to these meetings for three years now. Of course I'm going to be given alcohol."

"Given? You mean people just handed it to you?"

"Yeah. Gozaburo wanted to build up my alcohol tolerance level for some stupid reason or other. I think he just wanted me to get wasted one time and make a fool of myself, but luckily I have an extremely high tolerance of the stuff. It didn't exactly work out."

Tea let out a sigh as their drinks arrived. "That's sad…"

Seto merely shrugged his shoulders as the hostess left. Taking the glass in his hands, he sipped the drink and let the slightest hint of a smile appear on his lips. "It's not like I drink often. In fact, I think I only drink when I go to these events, and even then it's only a glass or two. Nothing to get me going."

"Well that's good to hear." Tea drank a large gulp of her Shirley temple and smiled widely. "This is good."

"I hope it is." Taking another sip of his glass, he blinked in surprise and said, "Uh-oh. Here he comes. Just stay quiet, alright?"

Tea nodded her head and soon saw a man walk up to their table. "Mr. Kaiba!" he exclaimed. "Welcome, welcome! How are you doing on this fine evening?"

"I'm doing well, Mr. Kenshie," he answered, his voice its normal coldness. The man had to be at least fifty, his white hair started to recede slightly. His glasses were large and square, and he wore a dark blue business suit with a white tie. He looked more like a grandpa to Tea than a business executive. But, once again, what did she know?

"That's good to hear. I've read that KaibaCorp is still extremely lucrative. I'm glad to see that your business is still doing so well."

"As am I to hear that your business is improving," Seto replied.

"And who is this lovely lady you've brought tonight?" he asked, eyeing Tea.

"This is my good friend, Miss Gardner," Seto answered, a frown appearing on his face. Tea blinked in surprise; being referred to as a 'good friend' of Seto Kaiba wasn't something she was normally called.

"Well, I must say, she's quite a sight for the eyes," he replied. "You two are free to dance at anytime or view the posters. There will be a presentation near the end of the meeting, but now I just want the guests to settle down and get a chance to discuss with one another their business news. I hope you two enjoy the rest of the evening."

Watching him leave, Tea glanced over at Seto and quirked her eyebrow. "'Good friend'?" she asked, seeing him take another sip of the red wine.

"Would you rather I have said 'girlfriend'?" he countered, smirking over at her.

"N-No, but…still… I didn't know you considered me a good friend."

"Well, I just said 'good' because I figured he would leave you alone if I acted as though I was protective of you. At least that worked out; that man is known to be a dog. But yes, I guess I do consider you a friend."

"Am I entering your unknown circle of friends?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, first there's Jade, and then Lucy said she was an acquaintance of yours…"

Seto chuckled and shook his head slightly. "That Lucy…she is quite the character."

"I don't know where you find these people."

"She worked for my step-father, and once he disappeared, she began to have some money issues," Seto explained. "I helped her out of it, and she eventually set up her own fashion store. She still visits from time to time, though not as much as she used to."

"Who would have thought that you had such a circle of friends?" Tea mused.

"I know. It even shocks me at times. But they all are helpful, and I'm appreciative of their company."

"But I have to ask, why hide it? I mean, why go through so much trouble just to keep your friends hidden?"

"I already told you, Tea, I like being misunderstood. It makes things so much easier for me, especially when running a company. All of the people who I consider friends don't like the publicity that comes with being a celebrity's friend. So, I do them a favor as well as myself by keeping it all low-profile."

"How thoughtful of you. So why bring me along when you have all these friends?"

"First of all, there's only two, not a whole group of them out there. Second of all, I picked you because Jade doesn't like going to them, and neither does Lucy."

"I see. Well, thanks for the invitation."

Smiling, Seto leaned back in his chair and said, "Thank you for coming along."

"I don't think I've seen you smile so often in one night," she observed, looking out at the dance floor. Several couples had begun to dance to the classical music playing in the background.

"I don't, usually. Maybe I should stop hanging around you so often."

"It wasn't meant to be an insult. I was just making an observation."

"Yeah, well…I guess I should stop for now."

"Why? Seto, smiling isn't a sin. It's okay to do it."

"I guess…" Rolling her eyes at his unconvinced tone, she continued to watch the couples dance and chuckled.

"Who would have thought that, after all that arguing, you would have asked me to go with you to this convention?"

"Well, you have proven that you are intelligent individual," he stated. "Plus, I can tell you care about those kids at the orphanage. At first I was a little nervous, letting somebody new into the place, but you proved your worth there. Anybody that helps those kids out I need to be friendly towards. Not just because it keeps them around, but because I truly am grateful for their help."

"You….really care about those kids, don't you?"

"I was one of them at one time. I know what they're going through."

"And then you were adopted?" she asked, glancing over at him. She watched him close his eyes and slowly nod his head before draining the rest of his drink. Realizing she was going into a topic that he most likely didn't want to discuss, she quickly asked without thinking, "You know how to dance?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," he answered. "Not only was I forced to drink, but I had to learn how to dance with several of the other corporations' daughters. Ignorant bunch, the whole lot of them."

Chuckling, Tea jumped out of her chair and grabbed Seto's hand. "Well then, let's go!" she cried out, pulling Seto out of his chair and ignoring his protests as he was dragged onto the dance floor. Placing her hand in his and her other hand on his shoulder, she waited as Seto slowly put his hand on her hip. His eyes were wide in shock, so she smiled up at him and said, "Just relax. I don't want to be drinking Shirley temples all night, and you owe me for coming here when I don't know a clue as to what anybody will be talking about."

Seto slowly nodded his head, and the two began to move and sway to the rhythm of the music. "Don't you take dance lessons?" he asked after a moment or two of comfortable silence passed between them.

"Yeah, but not this ballroom stuff," she explained. "Mostly it's ballet and jazz that they teach me, though I do know a little tap dance as well."

"Are you going to dance school after high school is over with?"

"Hopefully, yes. If not, I'll be going to college for physical therapy or something like that."

"Interesting." She saw another smile tugging at his lips, and she playfully tugged at his cheek as if to widen the smile. He jerked his head back but couldn't hide the blush that appeared on his face. "Stop it. If others see you doing that to me, they'll think I'm easy to get to."

"Always about appearances, isn't it?" she asked, placing her hand back on his shoulder.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"I guess I'll just have to save it for after the party."

He rolled his eyes at her and whispered a 'whatever' before the song changed to something a little faster. The two quickly picked up on it and began moving to the different music once again.

"You…really are good at dancing, you know?" she observed, slightly in awe at the CEO.

"Thanks…I guess."

"I wouldn't have thought you would be one to learn how to dance."

"It was part of the job description, as I said earlier."

"Yeah, but…did you ever have a practice partner?"

A frown suddenly crossed Seto's face as his lips slightly parted before pursing together. "Yeah…" he said after an awkward couple of seconds went by, his voice suddenly quiet. "Yeah, at one time, I used to dance a lot with someone else."

"An old girlfriend?" she asked, surprised at Seto's sudden demeanor.

"You…could say that," he answered. Shaking his head, he glanced up at Tea and said, "Let's just stop this conversation, alright. I don't like talking about her."

"Okay, okay…" she replied. "But can I know who this lucky girl's name is?"

"'Lucky'?"

"Not every girl gets to say they've dated the CEO of KaibaCorp, now can they?"

"No…they can't." Feeling Seto shudder, Tea suddenly stopped dancing and looked up at him with worried eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you alright?"

Shaking his head once more, he looked up at Tea and let out a sigh. "Can we sit back down please?"

The fact that he said 'please' without even thinking about it made Tea take a step back slightly in fear. "S-Sure," she answered, and the two quickly walked off the dance floor and headed back to their seat. Sitting down at the table, Seto put his hand up to his forehead and let out a long sigh.

"Sorry," he said after awhile. "I just…don't like thinking about Sophie."

"Sophie?"

"The girl," he answered. "Her name was Sophie."

Tea nodded her head in understanding and placed her hand over his. "Hey, it's okay. I have ex-boyfriends that I don't like to think about either. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

"Thanks…" he whispered. Before either of them could say another word, they heard the sudden noise of a microphone being tapped.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" Mr. Kenshie shouted, his voice vibrating off the walls. "And welcome to the party!"